clonearmyfandomcom-20200215-history
Imperial Intelligence
Imperial Intelligence, also known as the Bureau of Imperial Intelligence, Imperial Bureau of Investigation or the Imperial Intelligence Agency, abbreviated Imperial Intel, was an elite branch of the Galactic Empire, dedicated to collect information, secret and otherwise, for the Imperial government. It was headquartered at the Imperial Intelligence Headquarters. It was a rival to the larger Imperial Security Bureau. History This intelligence service was one of the few legacies that remained from the Galactic Republic and was completely reformed after the Declaration of a New Order. In the final years of the Old Republic at the time of the Clone Wars, there had existed four intelligence networks that supported the governments by gathering as well as analysing information from the Galactic Senate. These included the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, Interstellar Consortium on Technology, Republican Security Organization, and Special Acquisitions Branch of the Library of the Republic. However, in those years, the directors of the four agencies quickly came to the conclusion that corruption by various Senator's led to misinformation being passed through the bribing of lower ranking functionaries. This allowed such individuals to control the information that was being presented to the Galactic Senate. However, they never bribed the operatives of all agencies and instead attempted to rely on the innate distrust between the four intelligence divisions. The four directors later met in negotiations in the last years of the Republic where they agreed to put aside any desire for personal power and instead form an effective intelligence agency. This led to the merger of the four agencies and the Ubiqtorate was formed and saw the intelligence service being reorganized with frightening speed. Later Imperial accounts speak of the leaders of these networks being bypassed by corrupt members of the Galactic Senate, who were buying information from lower-level operatives in pursuit of their own political agendas, a description that might have, in fact, alluded to the activities of Mon Mothma and her political faction at the end of the Clone Wars and the time of the Petition of Two Thousand. It was probably in response to this that several of the leaders of the Intelligence organizations, including Armand Isard, Director of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence, concluded an informal alliance, motivated by a belief that democratic government had failed the galaxy, and designed to forge their networks into a single tool in support of Palpatine. After the Declaration of the New Order, the disparate Republic organizations were formally amalgamated into the new Imperial Intelligence, with Isard in charge as Director of Intelligence. It is not clear what relationship organizations known as Republic Intelligence and Clone Intelligence bore to these four networks, but it can be assumed that these were likewise amalgamated into Imperial Intel, perhaps under the umbrella of SBI or the RSO. A Republic military counterespionage officer, Admiral Kiner, appeared to have played a role in the establishment of what became the Renik division of the Bureau of Operations. From the remnants of Republic Intelligence, the Empire formed a number of secret police forces that governed its rule. Presumably, the authority of the Senate Intelligence Oversight Committee to interfere in and oversee intelligence affairs was also removed during the reforms, but the speed and efficiency in which the Intelligence community had reorganized itself frightened several of Palpatine's advisors, including Lord Crueya Vandron, and the COMPOR organization was reorganized as COMPNOR to provide a counterpart under their own control. In 0 BBY, Armand Isard was demoted on Palpatine's orders, due to a failed operation to destroy the Rebellion. At some unknown point during the Galactic Civil War, the Emperor arranged for Cronal to leave the Prophets of the Dark Side and serve as his Emperor's Hand whereupon he was placed as the head of Imperial Intelligence. Organization The agency made use of covert operations which it used to spy on its enemies as well as itself and other branches of the Galactic Empire. This eventually led to individual agents taking their orders from sector Moff's leading to some not reporting to Imperial High Command. Imperial Intelligence also worked closely with the security forces of the Imperial Palace at certain points. They were also responsible for watching the activities of various governments, corporations and other forces in the galaxy. Furthermore, they kept an eye out for any notable mercenary, bounty hunters and other outlaw activities. Imperial Intelligence consisted of eleven subdivisions: *Ubiqtorate *Internal Organization Bureau *Bureau of Operations *Inquisitorius Both the Imperial CompLink and the Imperial Intelligence Signal Branch were important elements of Imperial Intelligence, but not subdivisions. The agency also contained its own Media division known as the Imperial News Network that was supposedly a "civilian" branch of the organization. Like their counterparts in the Imperial Security Bureau, some Imperial Intelligence personnel made use of a military-style system of ranks similar to those of the Imperial Army and Stormtrooper Corps. Some operatives were simply given the title of "Agent" in lieu of a military rank, and there is some reason to think that these officers were assigned missions on a case-by-case basis, and did not hold graded military-style commissions. At the apex of the Imperial Intelligence hierarchy was the Ubiqtorate, a secretive command structure led by the Director of Intelligence. The core of the Intelligence command apparatus was located in the Imperial Palace itself, including the Director's office and, as already noted, a small prison complex. Function As one might expect, Imperial Intel was responsible for covert operations in the Empire. The agency had a strong reputation: it is said that the ISB never succeeded in intercepting and decoding a single Imperial Intel document. Whereas the ISB investigated morale and coordinated the military with COMPNOR and Emperor Palpatine's objectives, Imperial Intelligence was an older organization, descended from the intelligence-gathering offices of the Galactic Republic that specialized in external espionage. The powers available to them allowed them to convert freighters into "Intelligence freighters", which were specialized cruisers that were not marked for obvious reasons. Imperial Intelligence also contributed to Imperial Palace security. Category:Imperial Organizations